Green Bean Drop set for Saturday in Trussville

From staff reports
TRUSSVILLE — What do you do with 20,000 pounds of green beans?

This is the question asked of a green bean grower by Society of St. Andrew in Tennessee. After mechanically harvesting the green beans he can only keep the perfect ones to sell. Any beans that are considered unmarketable – broken, too short, too long – he will throw away unless Society of St. Andrew is there to rescue the bean culls and distribute them to agencies feeding those who are hungry.

Green beans at a past Green Bean Dropsubmitted photo

The farmer is offering this hefty amount of nutritious food as a donation to be distributed in Jefferson, St. Clair and surrounding counties in Alabama.

First Baptist Church of Trussville along with Clearbranch United Methodist Church will be hosting the Green Bean Drop on Saturday, July 26 starting at 8 a.m. Volunteers will come together to bag and distribute 20,000 pounds of green beans. This single load will bring 60,000 servings of food for people in need in the Trussville and surrounding communities.

The shipment of beans will arrive late Friday night and will be dumped in the grassy lot just west of the church. Volunteers will begin to arrive by 8 a.m. to help bag the green beans. Agencies receiving beans will arrive for distribution starting at 9 a.m. In case of rain it will be rescheduled for Saturday, Aug. 2.

Society of St. Andrew is a faith-based non-profit organization committed to ending food waste in the United States and eliminating hunger in communities.

Any agencies interested in receiving green beans, and any individuals or groups that would like to volunteer, should contact Mary Lynn Botts, SoSA Alabama Gleaning Coordinator, at alglean@endhunger.org or 205-245-3214.